Fears
by Little-miss-laughs-alot
Summary: After a long, hot morning of fighting robots, the Avengers head to the beach. What do they discover about Tony there when a prank goes wrong? No slash, just friendship. Story better than summary.


**I know, I know... I should be working on my other stories. But this hit me the other day and I spent the last few days writing at every free moment I could! I actually wrote it in a notebook and typed it on a laptop, as opposed to my iPod, so it's a bit longer than my normal stories! I really hope you like it!**

**DISCLAIMER- I (unfortunately) do not own the Avengers... All rights go to MARVEL**

The hot sun blazed down on the small town, burning the backs of the six heroes and glinting off of the shiny metal of the robots. The sun wasn't the only thing burning; the acrid smell of smoke-filled the air, seeming to muffle the noises of fighting.

"Cap! Behind you!" Hawkeye's voice over the comm. caused the red, white, and blue covered man to spin around and swipe his circular shield, effectively severing the head of the robot from its body.

"Thanks Hawkeye!' Captain America gave a two-fingered salute to where he knew the archer was standing, out of sight and watching his teammates' backs. Hawkeye was searching for weak spots in their opponents, but the only weak spot so far was the neck, which was where the control sensor was. A black arrow whizzed past the Captain's head, sprouting from the neck of a robot that was coming up behind Thor, causing it to collapse. Thor spun, swinging his mighty hammer in a great arc, and taking out the robots as quickly as they were coming. Hulk stampeded past, leaving crushed monsters in his wake and roaring defiantly; a change from the mild-mannered doctor he normally was. Black Widow was flipping and shooting, producing an astonishing amount of knives from who-knows-where, the daggers becoming silver blurs embedding themselves in opponents. A flash of blue light announced iron Man's presence, destroying even more of the decreasing amount of robots.

"Thor!" Captain America commanded, and the thunder god seemed to understand. He raised Mjolnir towards the sky, causing storm clouds to gather across the previously cloudless sky. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and a huge bolt of pure electricity streamed down from the sky and separated into strands, hitting every remaining robot, sufficiently melting them. The Avengers stood still for a moment, their ears ringing with the silence of the post-battle. Hawkeye joined them quickly, rappelling down from a building before anyone spoke.

"Point-Break? Why couldn't you have done that _earlier_? You know, _before_ we had to fight?" No surprise that Tony would be the one to break the silence.

Thor answered honestly, "There were too many foes."

"Hmph." They all heard sirens; the fire engines were coming. After a few moments of silence, in which Bruce walked back over to the group, wearing the extra set of clothes that he had asked Clint to hold on to, Tony abruptly announced, "Lets take a day." Everyone turned to him; he had lifted his face mask and was looking at them all expectantly. "It's only noon, and its gonna get even hotter. JARVIS told me that its ninety-six degrees outside, and I don't care what Fury says, there is _no way_ I'm fighting more weird monsters in this heat." Smiles were creeping onto the faces of the other Avengers at the thought of their first day off in a long time. After the Battle of New York, other creepy-crawlies of the world had taken it as a signal to come out of the woodwork, and Fury had been working them to the bone.

"What about Fury?" Steve, ever the voice of reason, said doubtfully.

"I'll deal with the Cyclops," Tony said confidently. Natasha and Clint exchanged quick glances.

"No! _I'll_ deal with Fury," Natasha corrected, causing Tony to look at her, "You asking will guarantee that, not only would we not get the day off, but we would get sent on a mission to Antarctica." At the mention of Antarctica, Clint winced and rubbed his arm and Natasha grimaced. Nobody asked.

"Okay then, Spidey and Merida can deal with Mad-Eye Moody," Tony smirked at the glares sent his way. "What do you all want to do for our day off?" Everyone else glanced around, _what was there to do on a hot day?_

"Beach day!" Something flashed across Tony's face, but it was gone before anyone could notice it.

"Alright! JARVIS?" He spoke into his earpiece.

"_Yes sir?"_ The automated British accent came through all of their earpieces.

"Which one of my houses has the best beach?" Then he added as an afterthought, "Preferably close to New York."

"_Well sir, there is your house in Maine." _

"What's the weather there?"

"_Ninety-three degrees Fahrenheit, Sunny, 0% chance of precipitation-"_

"Thanks, J." Tony cut his AI offmid-sentence. "Make sure the fridge is stocked. We're having a beach day."

"_Sir? The beach may-" _

"Mute!" Tony cut JARVIS off again, his eyes widening a fraction. Everyone looked curious, but normally, with Tony, it was just better not to ask.

THIS IS A LINE BREAK! THIS IS A LINE BREAK!

After Natasha and Clint had talked to Fury and been granted their day off, they all boarded the Stark jet for the quick ride to Maine.

"_Is everyone situated?" _JARVIS' voice came over the loudspeaker. After receiving confirmation, he continued. _"Takeoff will commence now. I would ask you all to stay in your seats, but I know that Mr. Stark, at least will not listen to me."_

There were a few chuckles at this, and Clint leaned over to Natasha. "Don't you love how even Stark's computer is sarcastic?" The redhead snorted quietly and they settled in for the ride.

THIS IS A LINE BREAK! THIS IS A LINE BREAK!

"Welcome to Casa de Stark!" Tony announced as his Maine home came into view from the limo.

"Wow." Steve murmured quietly at the Oceanside mansion. About a thousand of his and Bucky's apartment could have fit inside that house. _House _being a very loose term.

"Okay, just ask JARVIS where to go, I'll see you all on the beach!" Tony left to head to his room, leaving the others to get directions from JARVIS. Eventually they reached a hallway with five doorways, a screen on each one with one of their names on each. Of course, as it was Tony, he had programmed them to say, _Goldilocks, Katniss, Spidey, Capsicle, _and_ Leprechaun._ They headed into their respective rooms and groaned at what they saw on their beds. Tony had chosen bathing suits and towels for them.

Soon enough, nearly everyone had converged on the beach, observing the sand and the ocean sparkling in the sun, and wrapped in towels despite the heat. Tony was the last one out, carrying his towel and wearing his ever-present sunglasses on his eyes. "Why are you all wearing your towels? You can't swim in them!" Everyone glared at the smirking billionaire before reluctantly removing their towels. After they all got a good look at each other, though, they all started cracking up. It was obvious that Tony had a lot of fun picking them out.

Steve was wearing a set of red and white striped swimming trunks with big, blue stars all over them; his face was about as red as the stripes on his bathing suit, be that from laughing or embarrassment, no one could be quite sure. Bruce was wearing neon purple trunks with green polka-dots, that looked quite ludicrous on the mild-mannered doctor. Clint wore a black bathing suit with golden feathers covering the majority of the black. Thor wore a turquoise swimsuit covered in smiling storm clouds and lightning bolts coming from the clouds. Natasha's bathing suit had most of the men blushing slightly, poor Steve was staring at the ground, his face bright red. Only Clint and Tony were unfazed, as Clint had been her partner for years, it was nothing he hadn't seen before, and Tony was… Tony. Natasha was wearing a black string bikini with red spiders with smiley faces running across the print of it, and a scowl that said plainly that if looks could kill, Tony would be disintegrated. Tony's was quite normal, actually; a pair of swimming trunks in hotrod red with a strip of gold running down each side, a white T-shirt, and his black sunglasses.

"Okay," Bruce started after they could all breathe again, "Everyone ready?" He received a few nods of agreement and continued, "Lets go!" Five Avengers raced to the water and dived in, sighing with happiness at the relief from the sun the water brought.

"But why is friend Tony not joining us?' Thor's question stopped them all and brought them turning around to see Tony sitting on a towel, earphones in his ear and tapping around on his phone.

"I don't know, big guy." Steve said uncertainly. Bruce's brow was wrinkling slightly and Natasha was staring at the resident billionaire with an odd look on her face. Clint tapped her shoulder lightly, turning a questioning look to her, but she shook her head signaling that she would tell him later.

"C'mon, let's swim. My back's burning just standing here, and Tony will join us if he wants to." Clint dived back into the water, followed quickly by Natasha. The last three men exchanged glances and shrugged, following suit.

THIS IS A LINE BREAK! THIS IS A LINE BREAK!

A few hours later, the Avengers were stretched out in the sun, the heat drying them in no time. Tony had procured a few beach umbrellas and was now sitting under one, going through some agency's secure database and talking to Natasha.

"Hey guys," Clint whispered to Bruce, Thor, and Steve. "Wanna get Stark in the water? I want to get him back for that prank with the A/C."

Thor smiled, "I have not taken part in these, what you call pranks in many years, but I did love them, although not as much as Loki-" He faltered at the mention of his estranged brother, his reminiscent smile fading slightly, "But I do believe that it would be a grand way to get friend Tony into the water to have fun on this hot day."

Clint blinked slowly, then recovered. "So Thor's in! Bruce? Steve?"

Bruce sighed, but smiled slightly and conceded. They all turned to Steve. "Stee-eve!" Clint sing-songed. "C'mon! He'll just get a bit wet! That's all!"

Steve rolled his eyes fondly and nodded.

THIS IS A LINE BREAK! THIS IS A LINE BREAK!

After they had been waiting for a while, Tony finally dozed off, and Natasha had gone inside to procure some food. Clint looked to Bruce, Bruce looked to Thor, and Thor looked to Steve, who despite himself looked like he was anticipating the prank.

They ran and each picked up a corner of Tony's towel and headed swiftly to the water, jolting the billionaire awake. With a demigod and a supersoldier, it wasn't difficult at all to carry him, even though he was putting up quite the fight.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he shouted at them, eyeing the water that was approaching quickly.

"We, are taking you for a swim!" Clint shouted back cheerfully; Tony's eyes grew wider and he struggled more valiantly.

"No! I-I-um, have my phone! Yeah! I don't want it to get my phone wet!"

"Stark, you and I both know that even if you hadn't left the phone under your umbrella, it still wouldn't get damaged, and you made it waterproof!"

Tony was getting desperate now, "Let me down right-" _SPLASH! _His sentence was cut off by a shock of cold water. He tried desperately to get up, but he couldn't. Something was holding him down. Suddenly, he was back in a dimly lit cave, covered in water.

_A rough hand pushes your head farther down into the water, ice cold. Despite your desperate attempts to keep it in, air bubbles float up past your face towards the surface that you so want to be at; a product of your silent screams. Sweet relief comes when the hand brings your head back up, air flowing back into your lungs, but before you can recover, you are back under. Before long, a red haze fills your vision and you start to go limp, just waiting for the relief unconsciousness will bring. Suddenly, you are brought back up again, and you brace yourself for the pain that you know will come afterwards, but it doesn't come! Instead, a hand is hitting your back forcing you to cough up all the water you inhaled. Instead of the angry sounds of a foreign language, you hear softer murmurs of what you know is English, even though you can't decipher it as of yet. The hand continues hitting your back, a few others helping you kneel._

Tony opened his eyes and discovered himself on the sand, coughing up water and dripping wet. He tasted the water on his lips, relishing in the fact that he tasted salt, as opposed to the metallic tang of the water in the cave.

"Wha-What the hell was that!" Tony choked out as soon as he could, staring at the men looking extremely worried in front of him. Natasha turned away from him and glared at the others as well.

"_That's _what I'd like to know!" The men looked terrified now, and Bruce, Steve and Thor pushed Clint forward, either thinking that he would stand a better chance against the fiery redhead, or hoping that she would put the blame on him, as he was the instigator in this prank after all.

Clint stepped towards his partner, obviously concerned. "It was a prank. I wanted to get him back for turning on the A/C full blast in the vents while I was asleep." When Natasha kept glaring, he defended. "How was I supposed to know? You know how thoroughly I read the medical information in the files! _Nowhere_ did it say that water is a trigger!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Steve had been trying to follow the conversation but failing, especially as half of it had been silent. Natasha and Clint turned back to the rest of the group and glanced at each other before Natasha stepped forward.

"Okay Steve, you were in WWII, you know what shell shock is." When Steve nodded, his forehead creasing, she continued, "Well, it's called PTSD now; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. That's what happened." Steve looked shocked; what could've caused his friend to have a condition usually associated with war?

"I was never diagnosed-" Tony spoke but was cut off by Clint.

"You never went to the doctor to _get_ diagnosed."

When Tony looked like he was about to argue, Natasha spoke. "Tony, I'm an assassin, that, along with the fact that I worked for you for a time, _and_ I'm your teammate, means that I know these things. I also know that you had a flashback; what else would've caused that reaction?" To this, Tony had no response. He stood up shakily and headed inside, ignoring any offers of help and leaving his five teammates in silence.

"What happened? To make him…" Steve trailed off quietly.

"Didn't you read his file?" Clint asked, "Don't you know about Afghanistan?"

"Well, yes, I know he was kept in a cave and ordered to build a missile, but he escaped by building the first Iron Man suit instead. Beyond that, I know nothing."

Natasha was the one who answered, as she knew nearly the whole story from Pepper, whom she had become closer friends with. "Tony was tortured. He refused to make the Jericho Missile, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. Steve, I think you can figure out why he had that particular reaction today."

Steve's confused expression cleared, but was quickly replaced by anger. "Water boarding." Everyone had varying degrees of anger on their faces, from Thor who didn't understand the term, to Bruce who had a distinct green tinge to him.

"What is this boarding of water you speak of?" Thor wondered, causing everyone else to exchange sad glances.

"Water boarding," Clint started, "is a torture technique. It's made to make the subject feel like they are drowning, by either tying a thin piece of cloth around their mouth and nose and pouring water over them, causing them to almost suffocate, or being repeatedly held in a tub of water. What I think happened to Tony, judging by his reaction, was the second."

Thor's face grew stormy and they all heard the distinct rumble of thunder in the cloudless sky. "Where are the men who did such horrible things to friend Tony?" He went to stick his arm out to summon Mjolnir, but was quickly restrained by Steve.

"They're all dead, Thor, all of them." Thor relaxed slightly, but still looked extremely angry, but at least he wasn't trying to summon his hammer anymore.

"C'mon, lets go see Tony. You all need to apologize to him for what you did." It was a mark of how bad they felt when they didn't argue and headed straight up to the house, leaving all of their things on the beach. They all had one goal in mind as they headed towards the mansion, to help their friend, no matter how long it would take.

A/N- I REALLY hope you liked it! Took me forever to write, and I might fail my geometry test, but at least I posted this! JK... Sorta... Anyway, please review! If you had time to read this, you definitely have time to leave a couple-worded review! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE! If I get a good response, this might become a one-shot series about each of the Avengers and their fears, but only if I get reviews! (Not so subtle hinting!) Thanks for reading!

-Little-miss


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